August 2023:
The MLO Minute: “PART TWO: Injuries To Persons with Disabilities in Care Facilities And Schools – Overcoming The Obstacles” —
A Three-Part Series By Dennis McAndrews, Esq., Lesley Mehalick, J.D., LL.M., and Daniel Woody, Esq. —
In part one of this series, we discussed the use of federal laws to overcome Pennsylvania (and other states) laws establishing state sovereign immunity which can prevent recovery for injuries in public/charter schools, publicly-run facilities for persons with disabilities, and nursing facilities operated by public agencies. Fortunately, certain federal laws that protect persons with disabilities can be used to overcome this state law immunity.
In this segment, we will discuss the heightened threshold under Pennsylvania law which must be met to recover monetary damages for injuries suffered in mental health facilities run by private companies, and the means we used to meet that threshold to recover compensation for our clients.
When Pennsylvania enacted the Mental Health Procedures Act (“MHPA”) in 1976 to modernize the standards for voluntary and involuntary treatment of individuals with mental illness, it also established a higher threshold for recovery pertaining to injuries suffered while being treated for mental illness in facilities or by mental health providers. The MHPA provides that these facilities will only be liable for injury or harm to a mentally ill individual when the injury is the result of “willful misconduct or gross negligence.” 50 P.S. § 7114. This is a higher standard than “simple negligence” which involves a failure to exercise due care in relation to another individual, and which is typically involved in car accident cases or other injuries between private parties. While “willful misconduct” is often particularly difficult to prove, the concept of “gross negligence” can, with careful attention to detail and a thorough examination of records and the use of depositions and interrogatories, be proven by establishing that a significant and ongoing deviation from acceptable standards of care caused the injury in question. Oftentimes, for example, a plan of care (often referred to as an “Individualized Service Plan”) for an individual in a program requires a specific level of intensive supervision which was ignored when (and before) the injury occurred, and it is often possible to show that required staffing levels were repeatedly inadequate to meet the plan of care to which the patient was entitled.
We have had significant success over the years recovering monetary damages on behalf of individuals in mental health facilities by carefully and methodically developing sufficient evidence to establish gross negligence and therefore overcome these significant barriers to recovery. If you or a loved one has been injured while in a mental health care facility, please feel free to contact us through our website BY CLICKING HERE. Our consultation is free and cases of this type are handled on a contingency basis without payment of hourly charges to clients.
